Journal of Modern Education Review, ISSN 2155-7993, USA May 2018, Volume 8, No. 5, pp. 348–362 Doi: 10.15341/jmer(2155-7993)/05.08.2018/003 © Academic Star Publishing Company, 2018 http://www.academicstar.us

The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between

Universalism and Relativism

Emanuele Miranda (University of Perugia, )

Abstract: We aim to investigate characteristics and complexities of ancient Greek chromatic lexicon in the wake of the discussion triggered by the well-known theory formulated by B. Berlin and P. Kay in 1969 (eleven universal basic colour terms appear according to an evolutionist-implicational sequence articulated in 7 stages), thus further understanding, from a neo-relativistic perspective, specific ways of conceptualizing and verbalizing colour in Greek culture. This investigation is carried out through the analysis of a corpus particularly representative: Aristophanes’ comedies. For various terms and epithets new and original explanations and translations are presented with respect to tradition, stressing the importance of socio-cultural factors (e.g., technology of production of purple), and also using modern anthropological comparisons (e.g., Hanunóo system from the ) or concepts of Cognitive Linguistics, such as “prototype”. We will see how this type of approach allows to solve some secular “aporias” related to the subject, and how the universalist hypothesis of the two American scholars as well as the notion of basic color term, neglecting important connotative, diachronic and cultural aspects, are inadequate to describe, understand and interpret ancient Greek chromonymy, both for the richness and structural complexity of the latter and for its peculiar diachronic development. Key words: Ancient Greek, colour term, linguistic relativity, prototype, purple

1. Introduction and Theoretical Framework of Reference

The use of colour terms in ancient Greek seems unusual, off-putting, difficult to understand. In epic poetry the green of the vegetation is never noticed, sea and sky are described through numerous adjectives none of which suggests a shade of blue, and their attributes rather reveal a primary attention towards their movement and shimmer. There are many images that cannot be traced back to our chromatic schemes except for the attempt to apply twisted and pseudo-scientific solutions. When the translation of terms such as oi|nwy (“wine-like”) or clwrov" is attempted, any transposition into a modern language appears insufficient. The interpretations given to epithets such as kuanocaivth" and glaukw'pi", or to expressions like ijodnefhv" (“violet” sheep), also appear to be unsure and naïve. The use of xanqov", wjcrov"

Emanuele Miranda, Ph.D. in Romance Philology and General Linguistics at University of Perugia, Teacher of Humanities at the Secondary School in Perugia; research areas/interests: classical languages and literature especially Latin and Ancient Greek, etymology, historical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, anthropological linguistics, colour semantics, education. E-mail: [email protected].

348 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism and clwrov" does not correspond to the strict differentiation that we perceive between yellow, ochre and green. The same tint may be defined by different terms according to brightness and saturation, just like several words may refer to the same colour or object; inversely, the same word may indicate different tints. Polysemy, overlaps (yellow not strictly defined with respect to red and blue, red with respect to yellow and blue: xanqov" covers the most diversified shades of yellow, porfuvreo" flutters between red and blue, wjcrov" between greenish and yellowish nuance, purrov" is translated in various forms “reddish//orange/yellow”), ambivalences, metaphorical uses, metonymy, shades that are favourable to the insertion of affective-symbolic data increase difficulties; etymology does not help much as the chromatic value is often secondary or absent at origin, therefore making the context the determinant factor. The documentation shows a lack of abstract terms and little attention for the qualitative dimension of colour to the benefit of quantitative aspects such as brightness, lightness and saturation: in many adjectives the chromatic value is nothing but the later development of the original brightness factor. In Homer we find frequent references to white and black, red and yellow increase thereafter, while short wavelengths (green/blue) are perceived as hues only later and more slowly. The question is a part of the language/culture relationship, not in the sense of linguistic determinism but of a neo-relativism that considers colour as a product of language under the influence of culture. We inquire about the ancient Greek lexicon of colours in the wake of the universalism/relativism debate triggered by the hypothesis formulated by Berlin and Kay (B.-K.) in 1969, underlining the limits of the universalistic paradigm.

2. The Indo-European Vocabulary of Colours

There is no common term for the notion of “colour”. In fact, in Indo-European languages this meaning is formed as a determination of larger semantic values going back to forms that originally designated external surfaces, covering, skin (Sanskrit var a: “colour” and “caste”), or splendour/beauty (Celtic and Slavic terms). Also the numerous and polysemic Greek words for “colour” first indicate skin tone, ; crw'ma has had multiple meanings: dyes, roots, dyeing essences, but also in music, in rhetoric, in games (the factions of the circus in Constantinople). In the Indo-European vocabulary of colours the notation of the intensity and variability of light prevails over the qualitative one, linked to hue and wavelength: the roots from which the chromonyms originate all initially have a clearly luministic value, the generic indication of the intensity receives its precise determination as a gradation of colour through an object in which that colour is a peculiar note. Numerous terms for “black” and “white” derive from the same root *bhleg- “shine, burn”. In fact, it not only produced the Eng. black but also blank, Fr. blanche and It. bianco. In order to explain the two diverging meanings of “light” and “dark” we can start from the significance of “burnt”: the burnt effect (dark) and the glow of the flame (light), which causes the burnt, are aspects of a same phenomenon. The Greek ai[qwn also holds two apparently opposite meanings, “bright” and “dusky”: the ideas of movement and brightness act together, fused in a global intuition by means of referencing to the material “soot”. The root *ghel- “bright” refers to various chromonyms of the yellow-green type. The *bhle-/*bhle-was form, defining something light and then substantiating in the two meanings of “pale-blue” and “yellow”, leads to Germanic words for “blue”, passing from brightness to the colour of the sky, as well as to the Latin flāvus “blonde”. The meanings of blāo and flāvus differ greatly, but the connection is admissible in the hypothesis that the root *bhel- indicates an intense degree of brightness that could be achieved in light or dark tints. An original

349 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism semantic luministic nucleus can also be found for brown; in fact, *brūna leads back to the root *bher- “bright” that materializes in different directions: various names derive from it, bear (“the brown”), beaver (Ger. Bibar “the very bright one”), therefore the Eng. brown and the It. bruno have the same origins as bright. We believe that in indicating a certain degree of intense brightness, and according to the reference to res, *bhel- e *bher- have specialized in certain languages towards the hue flāvus, in others towards blāo, in others towards brūn which could designate light shades (It. brunito and Eng. burnished puts together the notions of dusky and brilliant). Indo-European languages have given linguistic relevance to grey as well both for light and dark shades, using roots that indicate a certain degree of brightness; the perception of the precise amount of light varies from community to community and also in the same language a different suffix can lead to a distinctive element. To conclude, IE terms for “black-white-yellow-blue-grey-brown” derive from roots that indicate various degrees of brilliance, in relation to a larger or lesser dimension of saturation and not of hue. Moreover, almost all the chromonyms derive from only one root, *bhleg, the meaning of which is “glare, sparkle” but that could assume multiple qualities of colour. When the glare shines so much as to merge the colours, the result are terms that lead to white; if this were to be dimmed, *bhleg- becomes *bhle-was, origin of lexemes indicating blue; a yellowish light coming into play leads to variant *ghel-; if the brightness tends towards red *bher- generates chromonyms relating to brown; when the brightness diminishes *bhles- gives rise to terms indicating pallor, while the variant *gher- produces grey; if it revives so much as to dazzle and burn, the root designates dark or black shades.

3. New Methodological Approaches in A Neo-Relativistic Perspective

3.1 Limits to Berlin & Kay’s Hierarchy After B.-K.’s first monograph (11 universal basic chromonyms appear according to an evolutionist-implicational sequence articulated in 7 stages), new versions of the model were developed, among which the fuzzy set theory (the sequence is reinterpreted as a progressive differentiation of the previously existing colour-categories) and the Emergence Hypothesis (only the most salient areas of the space-colour need to have names). The same B.-K. recognized the existence of exceptions that belie the universality of their scheme, like languages that have more than one basic term for the same colour: Russian (two blues), Hungarian (two reds) and many others (the most common way for languages to go beyond the eleventh term is to add a second term for the area of the blue). Another weakness is the lack of diachronic information; beyond Italian’s stage VII, some conservative dialects from Southern Italy show stage IV of the sequence (a regression compared to Latin’s stage V): they have preserved archaic systems of colour and they have lost chromonyms belonging to the chromatic area of pale blue, as a confirmation that the diachronic evolution of the lexicon of colour is not a one-way process, but rather a process subjected to involutions, reductions and re-elaborations. Cultural loans deserve more attention as well: Greek in Latin (the Latin terms for the colours of fabrics are all borrowed, designating particular nuances for fabrics that were destined for the upper classes), Germanic terms in Romance languages, Chinese first and then English terms in Japanese, and so on. Chromonymy is sensitive to political, economic and social upheaval and the luck of loans reflects and formalizes, on a linguistic level, a different interpretative canon of the chromatic range. In Greek and Latin we find words with a disorienting semantic amplitude or of very restricted use; such an indeterminacy explains its diachronic instability: caeruleus,

350 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism purpureus, flavus only survive as learned words, the Germanic forms have led to a lexical/semantic simplification by introducing greater accuracy and uniqueness (unmarked or literary terms were suppressed, while the daily versions linked to tangible objects were retained). Most studies have concentrated their attention on basic terms, but every language has immense resources for denoting sensations of colour: limitedly combinable specific chromonyms denoting subtypes or shades, adjectives involving non-chromatic connotative values (decadence, deterioration, cold/hot, succulence/dryness, see Japanese ao) or additional evaluative traits (suff. -ish Eng., -âtre Fr., -ognolo/-astro It.). Different roots, of chromatic origin, have undergone a semantic sliding in Italian, in the sense of a downgrading/degeneration (for a positive drift see rutilante and ruggente): squallido (Eng. squalid), sordido (Eng. sordid), atroce (Eng. atrocious), lurido (Eng. lurid), livore (Eng. livid). The method of investigation through which the problem of perception and classification of colours in ancient Greek has been set out highlights serious limitations, such as the search for their presumed “true” meaning and the concern relating to the attainment of solutions that satisfy our taste and post-industrial parameters: we must renounce finding precise correspondence between Greek and modern terminology in a perspective that considers colour as a complex construction of a specific culture. A return to an attenuated form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is proposed; according to this “Neo-whorfianism” language imposes conceptual frames that influence the way of thinking, perceiving, interacting with the world: differences in lexical classification influence cognitive judgments on the similarity between colours. 3.2 The Importance of Socio-Cultural Factors: Purple and the Hanunóo System Extra-linguistic, ecological-cultural factors deeply influence the chromatic vocabulary and this is essential in understanding the sense of the categorization and lexicalization of the spectrum adopted by a people, as well as the strong inter-linguistic variation it is subjected to. In the ancient Greek world the terminology of colours is determined in close relation to the social and technological milieu, we set the attention on dye technology and terminology. This was perceived through cultural-religious categories shedding new light on the problematic use of adjectives such as porfuvreo": the breadth of its semantic extent cannot be explained so much as generic indefinite nomenclature, but rather through the actual technology of the production of purple, that is through the iridescent character of the colouring principle during its extraction (from yellow to scarlet, to blue-violet, initially colourless); wings and garments belonging to superhuman creatures or the rainbow can be defined as “purple” when referring to their iridescent aspect, which appears as a kaleidoscopic alternation and overlapping of colours. The deep red and violet varieties were obtained with non-diluted juice, of which one single mollusc provided very few drops: its preciousness explains the luxurious connotation that often accompanies the adjective. The feature of purple most appreciated was its stability, the indelible character of the final colouring: the technological process repeats the same metamorphosis to which every organism is subjected in its life cycle. Thus the reference to purple can be explained in relation to death: in Virgil, the colour of death is often purple because in the mind of Greek men it represents the immutable, ultimately eternal, transformation in its final stage. The lexicon of dyeing reiterates how the concept of colour in the Greek world presupposes cultural, anthropological and linguistic references that are very different from ours (pure/impure, genuine/counterfeit, metamorphosis/identity polarizations). A relationship with production methods and techniques can also be found for other colour designations (Lat. caeruleus): for the and Latins “iridescent” constituted a true autonomous descriptive category of chromatic

351 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism reality, and their supposed Blaublindheit, as well as their preference for red and yellow hues, can be attributed to specific socio-cultural conditions. Another cue is yellow, referable to blood as it takes on chthonic meanings linked to the gory imaginary of sacrifices (see the Hippocratic theory of the four humours): this can be comprehended only by studying the chromatic lexicon as closely linked to the culture and imagination that produced it, as well as to the social structure that uses it and keeps it alive. We thought it would be interesting to refer to modern anthropological comparisons, for example with the hanunóo (a language of the Philippines) chromonymy, based on the opposites dryness/aridity and humidity/succulence: marara is the colour of cut or dried vegetable substances, malatuy is of fresh substances that are still full of lifeblood. We suggest that clwrov" is corresponding to malatuy just like xanqov" is to marara. The first parallelism is suggestive: Lysistrata’s olive branch and Polyphemus’ olive club, freshly cut, are the same colour as a bamboo stalk, also freshly cut. In our opinion the latter is the distinctive trait, the real common denominator between the discreet meanings of clwrov" is not the colour nor the humidity, but rather something that merges them, something fresh, full of lifeblood, that flows-spurts-drops-leaks out suddenly: this is what blood, living flesh, knees, tears, honey, drops of wine, dew, freshly picked fruit, freshly caught fish, freshly cut wood, freshly made cheese (still moist) have in common; from there the most daring metaphors move, for example clwro;n ai\ma, lifeblood rich in sap like sprouts, or clwro;n davkru, a copious crying. A joint attention towards the technological and symbolic aspects allows for a better understanding of the specific modalities of conceptualization/verbalization of colour in Greek culture, without denying their ability to graft onto some perceptual universals as well.

4. Vision of Colour in Ancient Greek Terminology in Diachrony

4.1 From Brightness to Hue In the diachronic process of semantic development of Greek chromonyms two factors can be identified: a luminisitic value, seen as a trait inherent to the root, and a reference to the actual datum, an object having a quality of colour included in that luministin gradation. The luministic factor is the essential element of the Greek colour term, within which and from which the qualitative determination takes place. Here are some significant examples: - Ajrgov". The colouristic meaning only concerns some passages, the luministic one involves all of them: reference to lightning shows that the one concerning velocity must be added to this. The problem of the dual meaning of ajrgov" is resolved through the original unity of the semantic equation “splendour-movement” enclosed in the IE. root *ajrg-: its most frequent meaning is “fast”, it is an epithet for colour only in a sacrificial/miraculous context where white has a symbolic or valuable meaning. Therefore, the existence of a single ajrgov" is confirmed, the semantic nucleus of which has had a double evolution capacity, since the luminous strength of white and the speed of movement are different aspects of a same intuition. The original luministic notion ensures that in the further qualitative determination the colour indicated by ajrgov" is a type of white mostly perceived for its purity, while leukov", not connected to the idea of brightness, indicates all those specific gradations of white that are a detriment to its brightness as they are mixed with foreign elements. Specific uses of leukov" are documented in association with referents that are far from white (blackberries, myrtle, , laurel wreaths), a comprehensible attitude if we consider the frequent use that is made of chromonyms not for identifying precise chromatic referents but for operating a first identification between objects (in Italian: black/white bread, white/black grapes, red/green salad; in many languages red wine is defined as black). It is significant that ajrgov"

352 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism belongs to poetic language and leukov" to prose, as to indicate not only that an object is coloured white but also that it is bright. The very same principle can be found in Latin, in the opposition candidus/albus: the first one indicates a shiny white, the second one a neutral white. The distinction also derives from an affective opposition: candidus is value-laden and full of figurative senses that express a feeling of participation, when referred to bodies it expresses the positive notion of “gracious”, in relation to attitude it means “sincere”, all the way to the “pure/immaculate” of Christian writers; albus simply designates the physical colour, and when referred to appearance it gains negative connotations as it evokes pallor. - Porfuvreo". At the root it is the IE. *bher- “boil”, but since it is used for garments, carpets and textiles we must admit a second meaning by referring to its root and recognizing in porfuvreo" both the meanings of “mobile” and “shiny”: Anacreon’s porfurevh !Afrodivth shall be iridescent for the transmutation of light and colour but also as the Goddess of an unstable feeling. So far the process is equivalent to the one undergone by ajrgov" (an evolution of two different meanings as the analysis of the original global intuition), but in post-Homeric poetry porfuvreo" presents a semantic shift towards red, that can only be explained in relation to the concurrent appearance of the noun porfuvra “purple”. The evolution of a luministic meaning in a colouristic sense is due to the reference to an actual object; the noun of the purple is to be considered on the same developmental level as the adjective: the semantic value of the latter was influenced by the properly colouristic note advised as qualifying the object. The IE. *bher- gave origin to porfuvreo" on one hand, to indicate something iridescent, to porfuvra on the other, to indicate an object that is characterized by iridescent brightness. As the luministic notion of *bher- is connected to boiling, both values were considered in the noun and adjective; this explains peculiar poetic collocations: Nausicaa’s ball is “mobile”, Alcmane’s alcyone “relentless”, woven wool “moves in waves”. As the name of purple became porfuvra, its most renown colour influenced the semantic value of the related porfuvreo", and at the threshold of the classical age it determined the restriction from its original notion of “mobility-iridescence” to the one of substance’s most esteemed colour, so porfuvreo" was attributed the value of “deep red”. The same value is confirmed by the poetic use in an admiration function for the parts of the body, use that will prevail in the Hellenistic-Roman age. An evolution is perceivable already in Homeric poems: in the Odyssey the adjective, already connected to the quality of materials, is used as an attribute for textiles, therefore with a prevalence of the colouristic aspect; in the Iliad, its value is richer and more poetic as it is still considered autonomous from porfuvra. At a certain point the original meaning was lost, and it started to be intended only in its meaning connected to colour. - Poliov". Unlike porfuvreo", in this case the determination from the luministic to the tonal value appears at historical era already completed. This is a typical case of development of the notion of colour due to the reference to a specific object: the influence by a real datum appears to be so relevant that the term comes to take on a meaning that is actually opposite, on a luminisitc level, to the original one. The documented use assures the meaning of “off-white”, to which the opposing fact is that while the IE. terms for white derive from roots underlying considerable brightness, *pel- expressed weak intensity; the determination took place through the use of the adjective referred to hair, meaning “white-headed”. Its first meaning must have been “tinged with white”, the preponderant part of the adjective documentation is given by its use as an attribution of hair. The fact that its value is white-headed and not grey is confirmed by its Homeric use as epithet for the sea (rippled surface or foam near the shore). Therefore, from an expression specifying “white hair” through the reference to hair from a root veiling weak luministic intensity, the term accentuated the notion of white making a reference to objects like the sea or iron under particular circumstances, developing a notion of intense brightness destined to consolidate itself in later uses.

353 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism

- Xanqov". The term derives from the IE. *kasen-, the colouristic value of which in the whole IE. domain is grey; the only diverging term is the Greek xanqov" indicating yellow. *Kasen- had a significant value of luminisitic intensity and the connection between the notions of speed and brightness explains the peculiar sound-meaning of xouqov" “melodious”. The point of contact and of departure of the diverging semantic evolutions can be identified in the reference to hair (white in Latin, blonde in Greek). The fundamental meaning of xanqov" in Homer is “blonde” as an attribute of hair, people or horses, which is the most documented meaning thereinafter: an initial value of “blond-fawny” (consistent with our distinction between light and dark yellow, that is brown) explains its semantic ability to incorporate the area of the spectrum where yellow transitions into red, just like clwrov" follows this area from yellow to green. - Clwrov". The triple value of the root (splendour/yellow-green/yellow or green) shows how from the generic indication of brightness gains particular importance the area including colours that we identify according to different terms. The effective datum through which clwrov" determines its coloristic value is represented by yellow-green objects such as grass, clovh, and nightingale, clwrhi?". A reference to buds is essential for determining the green colouristic value: this is proven by the achromatic aspect of the semantic value of clwrov" as used in the meaning of “fresh/young”, linked to the same intuition where “freshness” and “yellow-green” are intimately connected. The notation of shades within brightness happens because the term is originally an expression of a composite colouristic intuition, which is coherent with the exterior appearance of the colour that always presents itself in a particular gradation in nature. Individual qualitative values are expressed first as particular nuances, then as increasingly abstract qualities. In later years the same lexeme could indicate different qualities (clwrov": yellow and green, xanqov": yellow and red), but the original luministic distinction is at the basis: the common gradation of light gives origin to the common root of lexemes indicating very different colours (from *kel-: kelainov" black, killov" grey, kallai'no" turquoise). 4.2 Functioning of the Emotional-Affective Element An important role is carried out by the expressive element, not to be considered as a third factor in addition to the two illustrated above, but implemented through them by operating their synthesis. The phenomenon is easily intended when, next to the chromonym, the name of the object is found and documented by the same root, but the process is analogous when the relationship with reality is achieved through constant reference to an object: poliov" is determined as “white-headed” in relation to hair and, therefore, through a metaphor it can be transferred to the sea and acquire a decisive value of whiteness, xanqov" through its “fawn blonde” value gains the capability to indicate the splendour of harvests, fire and sun, thus expressing an idea of superiority, value, joy and beauty. Therefore, other aspects add on to the colouristic qualities of objects in influencing their related adjectives: in clwrov" the green-yellow of new grass recalls its freshness and pallor and, by metaphor, the meaning evolves in two opposed functions, on one hand the strong vitality of blood or the impetuous gushing of tears, on the other the dull appearance of a fearful face; in poliov" the notion of whitened recalls those pertaining to “venerable” and “shiny”; porfuvreo" expresses preciousness and the beauty of purple more than the colour itself. Examples: - Kelainov". The affective element compared to mevla" consists in the reference to an impression of a sudden scare. With the same connotative meaning “terrible” and regardless of the colouristic one, we also find it in Alexandrian poetry. There is also a denotative difference regarding the different degrees of brightness: mevla" (in origin “unhealthy, filthy”) conveys a negative notion of opacity, kelainov" (only in poetry) reflects a brilliant black (see Latin ater/niger).

354 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism

- Glaukov". Here too, an emotional state became a semantic halo and determined the colouristic meaning. The fact that the chromatic value is initially estranged can be proven in relation to the ancient matter of the value of glaukw'pi". The radical luministic value explains all the developments: we can place glau'x “owl” and glaukw'pi" on the same level, both bearing a common notion of splendour, admitting an affective relationship between name and epithet, the meaning of which is “whose look shines terribly”. If a colouristic value can be recalled in certain meanings, it is justified in relation to expressive factors. The Greeks saw in blue eyes a disquieting light, foreign to their appreciation, therefore they indicated them with glaukov" which acquired the meaning of “light blue” through this specific negative reference. The idea is further supported by the fact that the majority of its uses in prose indicates unusual or abnormal eyes belonging to foreigners or ill people (in the physiognomy treaties of the IV century A.D. thieves and homosexuals were characterized as having glaukovi eyes, causing a semantic shifting towards the figurative translations “unreliable, coward”). - Caropov". Rendered with terms ascribable to the area of blue, initially it does not contain any colouristic notion. Acquired for the first time in the Odissey in a context that conveys an idea of pride, in the Homeric Hymns that idea coexists with the one of colour: a progressive semantic shifting towards a chromatic value was hypothesized passing through the referent “lion”, attributable to both qualities. In the poetry it occurs in the Hellenistic period as the epithet of dawn, the sea, the moon, animals: a composite picture emerges, where it is difficult to identify a precise chromatic idea; in poetry caropov" recalls an idea of pride that is manifested as brightness in a face (see Dante’s Charon the demon, with the eyes of glede). In prose the adjective reports the totality of occurrences with reference to a type of eyes (in the Corpus Hipp. “humid”, without the exclusively chromatic value that it will take on in Galeno). In the pseudo-Aristotelian Physiognomy it characterizes the lion’s eye and it connotes the “courageous” type, in a link to a note of positivity that originates from the idea of a happy medium (in Lucian it conveys images of female attractiveness). We can assert that quantitatively speaking caropov" can be situated in an intermediate area between glaukov" and mevla". On a tonal level, to conclude that it is an intermediate colour between grey-light blue and black is reductive, as already for glaukov" the non-distinction is a characterizing trait (Aristotle asserts that glaukov" is by weakness the colour of the eyes of all new-borns). Caropov" does not even correspond to “amber”, the multiplicity of occurrences does not allow to trace it back to the semic unit of a tint as modernly intended. A tension can be detected, at times towards brown, other towards grey-light blue, which implies the persistence of the original positive notion. We must settle with translations driven by context with the only constant of a positiveness referred to different semantic fields.

5. Peculiarities in the Structure of the Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colour

5.1 Difficulties of a Categorization Based on the Notion of Basic Colour Term B.-K. place Greek language between stages II and III with 4 basic colour terms (b.c.t.), but all they did was recall the Homeric testimony, showing second-hand and superficial knowledge (glaukov" = black, no terms for grey and purple). In recalling the non-scientific grounds of the Newtonian theory (the division of the spectre in 7 parts derived from esoteric/symbolic beliefs), we criticize the traditional idea according to which the Greek chromatic system would be less elaborate and more indefinite than ours. Let’s verify the validity of B.-K.’s hypothesis by understanding which adjectives can be considered b.c.t. Two chromatic zones appear to be particularly rich: - YELLOW/GREEN = 9 terms: alongside the generic xanqov", xouqov" indicates golden blond,

355 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism sandaravkino" orange, krokwtov" saffron and ai]qwn refers to fire. The Greeks could define a light hair colour as xanqov" or purrjJov": the latter denotes a bright strawberry blond, while xanqov" refers to darker auburn- and it may have been suggested by the interest aroused by blonde hair, rare among the Greeks. In relation to green, the 3 terms refer to a vegetable: pravsino" leek, clwrov" sprouts and wjcrov" pees. - RED = 7 terms: besides ejruqrovv", oi|nwy and dafoinov" which indicate the deep and intense red of wine or blood, rojdoevi" for pink, mivlto" ocre, porfuvreo" purple (foinikeiov" is a poetic synonym, see flamingo and Phoenician or Canaanite ethnonyms). If leukov"/mevla" do not pose a problem in identifying their denotata with white/black, and faiov" denotes a most basic grey, it appears arduous to identify a more comprehensive term in relation to these chromatic areas. The most generic term for “red” is traditionally identified with ejruqrovv", while porfuvreo" and foinikeiov" are considered of a lower level as they are used with a more specific meaning. Nonetheless, there are many places where these are treated as more basic than ejruqrovv": therefore they are all entitled to the rank of b.c.t. The same difficulty can be found in the chromatic domain of “green”: pravsino", clwrov" and powvdh" are all basic synonyms; although etymology links them to distinct vegetable species and are able to describe gradations, they generally aren’t used in reference to different shades of green. For “yellow”, the most plausible candidate as b.c.t. is xanqov". Yellow and green emerge by differentiation from a “yellow-green” area: a reference is made to the different meanings of clwrov" in relation to the descriptive or referential use made (in the first case it is associated to yellow, in the second one to green), but also to wjcrov" (“ochre”, “leather colour” or “pale yellow”). Suspicions remain on the existence of a BLUE/PURPLE group. Here the candidates are: ajlourgov", kuavneo", o[rfnino" and glaukov". The latter is depending on the context and it trespasses into grey, green and pale blue (see Welsh glas); kuavneo" is similar to adjectives such as krokwtov" which indicate firstly a substance, then a colour, but it must be excluded for its limited range of uses. The most salient seems to be ajlourgov", in contradiction with B.-K.’s hypothesis as it designates a saturated, therefore gloomy, purple, placed only at the end of the sequence: aJlourgov" and o[rfnino" refer to colours that are more violet than blue and can be transferred to the “red” group, postulating the lack of a “blue/pale blue” lexical category as it is intended today. At odds with the universalistic theory, ancient Greek did not have a lexeme capable of representing the blue as an abstract category, however it had several blues with different brightness; moreover, although it did not have a basic blue lexeme, it did have some which were differentiated according to chromatic categories that, according to their hierarchy, had to be less represented synchronically and secondary diachronically (here the Emergence Hypothesis is confirmed more than the standard hypothesis). Lastly, we divide ancient Greek chromatic lexicon in 3 large sectors: (1) gradations of brightness/brilliance; (2) shades of yellow, green and brown; (3) shades of red up to its maximum saturation. A large part of Greek colour terminology takes its origin from the dye substances known and or used (see Jap.); if these are imported, the chromonym derives from the place of origin or from the peoples that commercialised them (foinikeiov", indigo, turquoise, Prussian blue). The dye substances available were murex, chermes, rose madder and saffron: these enabled to obtain a gradation ranging from yellow to gloomy purple, and precisely the lexical fields “red”, “yellow” and “purple” appear to be very rich in vocabulary. The Greeks were not easily capable of reproducing green and blue: indigo and lapis lazuli are only found in Asia, woad did not grow at that latitude. They knew these materials but they used them sparingly as they were expensive and difficult to import.

356 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism

The lack of terms to indicate shades of blue or green can also be explained by the fact that, not having dye substances at hand, they did not feel the need to coin ad hoc terms. Greek shows a remarkable capacity to fill in the blanks: kuavneo" specified dark blue, glaukov" pale blue, ijsavti" tints gained through woad; lexemes for green were derived from objects: grass (poiwvdh"), frog (batravceio"), leek (pra'sino"), emerald (smaravgdino"). 5.2 Semantic and Morphologic Organization of Greek Chromatic Vocabulary Among the variables of perception (hue-brightness-saturation), ancient Greek privileges brightness; other more complex than in other sectors diachronic variations intervene: it is not a simple semantic drift, but a slow and gradual mutation of the classification parameters, of which we become aware from the V century B.C. Greek texts are written in different dialects and areas, therefore we must also consider diatopic and sociolinguistic variations. Each chromonym is a composite unit which develops along a double dimension: a diachronic one (mutation of the classification criteria) and a synchronic one as it encompasses different notions: -) luminous intensity: degree of brightness in relation to light/dark polarities; -) variability according to movement (porfuvreo"); -) velocity/agility/sound: a fusion among the notions of colour and velocity already operated in Mycenaean language. Then there are adjectives with synesthetic meanings: the interference of the sound field with light is given through ajrgo"v, xouqov", faiov"; croiva and crw'ma are used in musical variations, voice could be light, leukh ,v or dark, mevlaina. Other types of synesthesia involved touch, like leivrio" (the white of lilies, the crystalline sound of cicadas, soft skin). -) humidity (differentiated in clwrov" in the sense of “fresh - vital” or of “rotten”); -) connotations related to the emotional and effective sphere: caropov", glaukov", kelainov". From a semantic point of view, and to deny ideas of lexical poverty also recently ridden by the evolutionist critique, ancient Greek covers the whole chromatic range including blue and green, as long as the terms are not channelled in a rigid register that raises barriers and prevents a lexeme to oscillate between shades or hues, and as long as a distinction is made in diachrony and diaphasy. There are abounding adjectives originating from the most various aspects of the animal, vegetable and mineral worlds. Also in the famous roJdodavktulo" “rose-fingered” (not rosy-fingered: ancient varieties were dark and deep in colour) there is a distinct ontological trait, related to the morphology of a rose rather than to its chromatic aspect; the two members are linked through a common referent represented by a numerability based on number 5: fingers on a hand, petals and sepals in a flower. Therefore the rose, not through its tonalities but with its structure, is a cognitive-ontological precondition of the association with fingers. The actual referent is not always a clarification as sometimes it is difficult to understand which object or how it actually was: also in case of roses, violets or wine we need to avoid anachronisms and verticalisations (violets are almost always the yellow ones, the biflora symbol of royalty and beloved by Athenians which nowadays grows in Bavaria and Tyrol). On a morphological level, alongside simple terms we find various types of compound terms: -) formed by two chromonyms: melavgclwro" “dark green”, leukevruqro" “light red”, where white and black serve as modifiers. In the Corpus Hipp. the shades of colour of the complexion and of the secretions of patients are rendered with extreme precision: a juxtaposition of two adjectives (ejruqrovxvanqo", yellow-reddish) and “super-compound” (uJpoclwromevla", dark-yellowish); -) compounds with prefixes for a natural evolution of Greek language (the birth of scientific-technical prose requires a characterized and characterizing lexicon); hence, a grid of terms that can be dilated enormously

357 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism allowing the notation of shades, using and combining several prefixes to express surprisingly precise notions: juxtaposition of equivalent terms, but also prepositions that lead to the formation of compounds that do not have English or Italian correspondents as English and Italian use prefixes only in particular contexts of medical or chemical analysis, preferring diminutive or augmentative suffixes. To designate the various nuances Greek language does not refer to suffixion nor to associations to concrete referents (“lime green”). Colour adjectives that combine with a noun are rare and late; the only one proved in the classical ages is melivclwro", referred to a woman (“honey green” or “the colour of honey”), which is not ascribed to this sphere though, as it is a hypocorism that is typical of the language of love, a morphological and not a lexical modality of endearment. Greek language directly resorts to forms derived from the names of objects: the most productive method is the composition of “prepositional prefix+adjective of colour”. The prepositional prefixes that are used the most are: ejn- (a colour within another); ejpi- (superficial or incomplete/barely started colouring); uJpo- (tension towards a colour, weak colour); dia- (stained colouring, or embroidered/encrusted); ejx- (transformation, colouring achieved accidentally or abnormally).

6. Inapplicability of the Universalistic Theory to Greek Chromatic Lexicon

6.1 Colour Terminology in Aristophanes’ Comedies This corpus allows us to investigate typical connotative uses of poetry, where feelings are often expressed through forms involving an adjective of colour. Comic texts had a close connection with the imaginary and the shared cultural encyclopaedia, therefore they are well suited to be studied according to a sector of the lexicon such as the chromatic one, related to deep and rooted cultural conceptions as well as influenced by socio/psycho-linguistic constraints. The colour terms used by Aristophanes reflect conceptions and beliefs that enrich them with relevancies that go far beyond the denotative type. Their use touches on aspects of collective psychology and the selection of adjectives, not always linked to a descriptive purpose, often aims at expressing meanings that are connected to the peculiarities and purposes of comedy. The identity and value of man in the Greek world were also determined by colour. In Aristophanes the choice between white and black to describe a human body is determined by sex, age and social status; these are not just simple conventional epithets (as in the epos where the use of leukov" mainly denotes female beauty), on the contrary chromonyms are loaded with evaluative significance: whiteness could also allude to sterility and absence of life, having something to do with the chthonic world (see the status of albinos and the figure of the Floured, a white scarecrow to scare children). The comedy contains several tricks based on complexion contrasts between sexes: the one referring to the ideal woman had to tend towards white as a testimony to life spent inside the house, the body of the man, instead, had to be tanned due to work in the fields and time spent in the agora. Pallor, connected to softness, referred to women and intellectuals: in comic jargon “black” is equivalent to “virile”, “white” to “effeminate” (philosophers’ faces are not leukoiv like women but wjcroiv, yellowish and unhealthy: as opposed to wjcrov", the one described by leukov" is a positive, healthy pallor). The vocabulary used by Aristophanes presents a condensate of characteristics from the Greek chromatic lexicon. Colour adjectives are numerous, playing with nuances rather than with solid colours. It is not always easy to mark clear boundaries between the uses of terms pertinent to the same chromatic area, i.e. between poliov" and leukov" for white. A chromonym can act as the only and constant epithet of a name, generating precise distribution of functions (poliov" for white hair, purrjoJv" associated with a scatological referent, miltov" for the rope soaked in

358 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism red ochre). Occasionally the same adjective is combined with totally different referents (leukov", mevla", purrjoJv"). Some chromonyms are combined with terms that are different from the ones they were usually connected to, thus creating new linguistic connections (leukov" with feet, poliov" for the first time, among the several names given to the sea, used to refer to pevlago", never chromatically defined in Homer), others, which were originally endowed with a limited semantic sphere, extend their use: ejruqrovv", the application of which appears restricted to well-defined referents in the epos (calkov"-nevktar-oi\no") but which finds new nouns to combine with in comedy that are connected to an everyday reality (a pig’s tale, a leather phallus), but also xanqov", the use of which is no longer limited to hair (here also, a more realistic use associated with browned meat and hair dyes is noted). The adjective of colour often constitutes a privileged tool for a meta-literary operation of parody towards tradition (Homer, lyric and tragic poets) and its forms. More frequently than in past literature, colour terms are connected to words referring to vegetation and animals (xouqov" and porfuriv" used for birds, clwrov" referred to nature). While Homer rarely describes the landscape, in attributing a note of colour Aristophanes privileges natural aspects, also through the use of totally new epithets: neologisms such as batravceio" or technicalities like qavyino" “yellowish” and yarov" “speckled/with grey spots” (only for equine mantles). The playwright discovers the ornamental function of adjectives of colour, revealing great sensitivity and awareness in grasping and using the potential stylistic value of the chromatic note: chiasms, enjambenent, metaphorical uses for a more trenchant description of a scene, a calculated choice of the position in the verse. In diachrony, some tendencies in the evolution of certain segments of the continuum of chromatic perceptions are confirmed, at both the semantic-lexical and morphological levels. Terms, for which only a luminous glimpse was originally perceived and described, begin to be seen as hues (except for blue); this shift from brightness to hue, parallel to technical-cultural progress, through a progressive and constant association to a concrete referent ascribable to a shade, is captured in the development of several languages including English. In addition to this we must consider the propensity to substantivization: the white (to; leuko;n), the black thing (to; mevlan), that red (to; purrovn), indications of the advanced stage reached by the abstraction process of chromatic qualities. The fact that the most lexicalized and morphologically productive segments of the spectrum are those referring to the “white/black/red” triad is too cross-linguistic to speak of a real conformity to B.-K.’s universalistic hypothesis. In a city that was a crowded crossroads of cultural and scientific ferments (Diogenes of Apollonia established a way to distinguish and diagnose diseases based on colour), Aristophanes expressed in poetic form the debate and the linguistic evolution in progress, resuming the reflections of the Pre-Socratics (Democritus) and anticipating those of Plato and the Peripatetic school. 6.2 Contribution of Cognitive Linguistics: New proposals for Interpretation The inadequacy and insufficiency of B.-K.’s hierarchy to describe, understand and interpret ancient Greek chromatic vocabulary is evident. It does not allow itself to be imprisoned, due to the richness and complexity of the structure but also to the development that can be seen on the diachronic axis, in “cages”. The universalistic theory can be useful as a comparative framework only in its most generic postulates. In fact, although some areas show a privileged cognitive and linguistic status and macro-categories with movable and oscillating edges play a relevant role, ancient Greek adequately covers the entire chromatic range: it does not ignore terms related to orange, brown and grey, belonging to the penultimate and last stage of the scheme supposed by B.-K. and that therefore should not have been lexicalized; porfuvreo" is very rich in attestations (purple, another category placed at the end of the sequence). The reliability of the evolutionary hierarchy appears

359 The Ancient Greek Lexicon of Colours between Universalism and Relativism to be disavowed also by the fact that the vitality of the segments of the continuum mentioned above applies despite the fact that the “blue” category, which should be lexicalized first and more permanently represented, is indefinite as it is constituted by terms that precede the colouristic meaning with connotative values. Regarding the notion of b.c.t., it is impossible to identify an indisputable list because none of the 4 requirements (monolexemy, absence of hyponymy, application not restricted to classes of objects, psychological salience) is applicable to the lexical structure of ancient Greek: we should discard morphologically complex terms, loans and denominations consisting of names of objects. We refer to the first criterion, but the second is also invalidated by the presence of the so-called “coextensive triplets” (terms used in free variation but with different focal reference to define members of the same category of colour), that prevent the detection of hyperonyms in crucial chromatic areas such as “red” (ejruqrov"/porfuvreo"/foinikeiov") and “green” (pravsino"/clwrov"/powvdh"). Greek lexicalizes “red”, “yellow” and “green”, but has several terms for each category, none of which is independent from the context and superior to the others. Specifying the denotation of numerous chromonyms in light of the B.-K.’s hypothesis is an operation fraught with difficulties on the methodological and conceptual level, since their value appears to be closely linked to their collocations. This does not clash with the general spirit of the theory, but it certainly invalidates the most simplistic and “popular” formulations. The notion of “prototype” is particularly effective: chromatic categories have a constant center and a nuanced periphery (the denotative sphere comprehensive of a chromonym), which varies according to the lexical articulation of a given language and the number of lexicalized colors. The proto-typicality of focal colours has a biological basis in the neurology of perception, but let us hypothesize that certain members of a chromatic category can acquire prototypical status also as carriers of attributes and salient values that assume a specific importance in a given society. The focal reference of some Greek chromonyms could therefore be a consequence of the relevance of certain objects and conceptions in Greek culture. Thus, for some problematic loci, we establish interpretations that are in contrast with the vulgata concerning the alleged “polysemy” of many Greek terms of colour. Let us consider Greek chromatic categories not generically polysemic but prototypical, in the sense that every meaning of a chromonym, however bizarre, can be linked to another by a semantic concatenation based on successive extensions starting from the centre. This prototypical focal meaning (changeable and not necessarily colouristic) can coincide with a global concept or intuition (ajrgov", clwrov") or has to do with the concrete referent to which the term applies more stably: saffron (krokwtov"), white hair (poliov"), pallor (wjcrov"), purple (porfuvreo"), hair (purrov"). The progressive semantic weakening of the prototype is a concomitant factor to the tendency of the lexeme to cluster around another point of reference that is increasingly distant from the original meaning. Xanqov" and xouqov" represent an example of particularly radical semantic dissociation, which led over time to the formation of two separate lexemes starting from an initial unitary meaning centred on a prototype that coincided with the original global intuition of “colour + splendour + rapid movement”. The central prototypical meaning for clwrov" (from which the peripheral meanings emanate) consists in a dynamic process, intersection of different cognitive and experiential domains that our modern languages keep separate, an undivided continuum of which the chromatic data is only one aspect, inseparably connected with other channels of sensory perception and cultural knowledge. This approach makes terms felt as aporia less vague, and in light of it some diachronic changes recognizable in ancient Greek chromatic terminology can be interpreted and described as passing from one prototype to another (in the same category) through progressive metaphorical/metonymic extensions of meaning.

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Finally, the modern Greek with its 13 b.c.t. also represents an anomaly with respect to the B.-K. theory: two for white (avspro is the popular term, leuvko the learned one), red (evriqro is the learned term but its use is restricted and therefore not basic, kovkkino is the popular term) and blue (distinguished in relation to brightness: galavzio light and mple dark, borrowed from French).

7. Conclusion

We have shown the need for a new approach to an ancient problem, which considers certain aporia as such, only because they are generated and kept alive by a culture distant from ours in the way of classifying and categorizing experience. This topic highlights as few others the cultural difference between us and the Greeks: exploring the way in which colour is lexicalized in Greek is to penetrate right into the heart of this diversity. Constants and variations in the use of chromonyms can be studied on a wider chronological range: from the Mycenaean to prose (physiognomy, magical papyri), from Latin literature (Plautus, Petronius) to modern ones (Bulgakov, D’Annunzio, Joyce). A multidisciplinary perspective would be desirable: linguistics, anthropology, neuroscience, philology (here the proposal by B.-K. and the general dispute between universalism/relativism were ignored and so far there are no issues that have a clear and argued position on the subject). The ambit of colour confirms itself to be a lexical and semantic domain that, after being a methodological archetype, can be a starting point for the elaboration of new theories in psycho-/ethno-linguistics, not to mention to the world of translations. An approach to the question in a moderate version of relativism appears legitimate and appropriate, notwithstanding the dominant universalistic tendencies in contemporary linguistic reflections; the notion of prototype opens a way to solve the dilemma of universalism/relativism, by interpreting the categorization on the basis of universalistic assumptions but recovering arbitrary aspects through the reference to cultural conditionings that occur in degrading from the centre to the periphery.

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